Mirror columnist Alison Phillips says that he would likely be questioned, his home searched, friends quizzed, finances raked over and forensic evidence taken

From the moment that red anorak hit the cobbles there has never been any doubt how much Hayley loves Roy Cropper.

They have become soap’s most inspirational married couple.

And Hayley would never leave Roy – as she will do next Monday when she kills herself in the final stages of pancreatic cancer – if she didn’t absolutely have to do so.

She even makes sure Roy doesn’t touch the glass containing the cocktail of drugs which will kill her in case he is implicated in her death.

But in the real world even that would not be enough to safeguard her beloved Roy – most likely he would be questioned by police, his home searched, friends quizzed, finances raked over and forensic evidence taken.

Because in the real world our muddled laws on euthanasia still make a suspect of anyone who may possibly have helped a terminally ill person end their life.

Assisted suicide is by no means a catch-all for people with terminal illness. And too often now it is being pushed forward as a neat solution – almost three quarters backed it in a survey this week.

But is that because in our McDonald’s culture which says “we want it and we want it now” we can’t even be patient for death? There are other very good alternatives for people as they near the end of life.

Hospices do incredible work which ensures people dying and their relatives have a positive experience.

One friend of mine told how the days he spent with his partner as she lay dying in a hospice were some of the best they’d ever had together.

But for some, this will never be how they want to go. They, like Hayley, want the option of bringing things to an end at a moment of their choosing. And that’s fine too.

But if they’re too sick to travel to a Swiss clinic that means they leave relatives at risk of being suspected as accomplices in their death.

For a mourning family, this is an ordeal too far.

It’s time to sort our laws on euthanasia once and for all and to ensure we support, not criminalise, those who are left behind.